Bombing of Aussig

The Bombing of Aussig occurred on 17-19 April 1945, when 500 bombers of the United States Eighth Air Force bombed the railroad yards at Aussig in Nazi Germany (now Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic). It would be the "Black Thursday" of the 490th Bombardment Group (its second-to-last mission) due to the loss of four bombers and 9 crewmen, who were massacred by the Waffen-SS garrison of Konopiste Castle after bailing out of their planes.

History
On 17 April 1945, 500 US Air Force bombers of the Eighth Air Force were sent to bomb the industrial city of Aussig in German-occupied Czechoslovakia (now Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic) to cripple the German war effort. Of these 500 bombers, 30 belonged to the 490th Bomb Group, which embarked on its 157th mission. As the 490th made a turn over Prague in order to bomb Aussig on its return run, it was attacked by up to 8 Luftwaffe Me 262 jet fighters, and 4 US bombers were shot down while out of formation. Some crew members bailed out into enemy territory, and some of them were assisted by sympathetic Czechs. Ten of the downed airmen landed in the SS training grounds at the Konopiste Castle Waffen-SS garrison (near Benesov, Czech Republic), and one was killed instantly, while eight more were captured, interrogated, and massacred; one of them managed to escape. The massacred US airmen were buried in a field two miles away, and their unmarked graves were later discovered by a Czech farmer. The two commanders of the garrison, Otto Haupricht and Albert Karasche, were later tried with war crimes, but they avoided punishment by claiming that the prisoners had been trying to escape.

Aussig would be severely bombed by the Americans, destroying the rail yards. It was the second-to-last mission flown by both the German Me 262s and the 490th Bombardment Group, and the German surrender would occur just a few weeks later.